News & Public Affairs

The Koch Brothers, Charles and David- two of the leading funders of conservative and far right wing causes in the country are considering buying the Tribune company. They are the second largest media company in the US, and they own two major newspapers here in Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel and the Orlando Sentinel. Some free press activists are protesting against this as they fear the Koch brothers will push their political agenda through the papers . Listen to the full show above....

Coming up today we'll talk with the former editorial page editor of The Tampa Tribune Rosemary Guodreau. Guodreau has co-founded a new web site, Florida Voices, which compiles editorials from the state's newspapers along with original content. We'll talk about online media, the future of media and the role newspapers play as watchdogs in our society.

David Folkenflik started his journalism career nearly two decades ago as a newspaper reporter. Since 2004, he has reported on the media for National Public Radio. WMNFâs Dawn Morgan spoke with Folkenflik earlier this week about holding his own industry - and employer - accountable.

"The media is an institution much like government or major religious institutions or financial institutions or the like that have a lot of influence and deserve scrutiny themselves, just as much as any other....

Yesterday the Hearst Corp. said it may sell or shut down San Francisco's main daily newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle.

The paper lost $50 million last year, and has been losing money consistently since 2001.The daily newspaper employs nearly 300 people on its news staff alone, and is the 12th largest paper in the country.

Alan Mutter is a former Chronicle editor and is now an independent analyst and consultant and writes the blog Confessions of a Newsosaur.

The St. Petersburg Times this year is celebrating its 125th anniversary, at a time when the future of newspapers is uncertain. Weâll talk with Neil Brown, the executive editor at the St. Petersburg Times in a moment.

But first- one listener comment about yesterdayâs interview with Michael Scheuer, the veteran CIA officer whoâs written a book called MARCHING TOWARD HELL- about the missteps the US has made in its war against Islamic militants.

Long-time Tampa Tribune columnist Daniel Ruth was laid off by the financially troubled newspaper last November.

Ruth spoke this afternoon at the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club in St. Petersburg.

Within a month, of being laid off by the Trib, Ruth was hired by the St. Petersburg Times to write a column every Friday. But that has not completely taken away the sting from when Ruth learned early on the morning of Nov. 10 that he was no longer employed.

Welcome to Radioactivity. Iâm Rob Lorei. Coming up weâll continue a topic that Juan Gonzalez was talking about earlier on democracy now â the rapid decline of American newspapers. But first some listener comments about the past few programs. Weâre still getting calls about voting, the presidential elections and the green party. We also received a call about the interview last week with the two local founders of a non-profit called Project Prosperity.which offers sma...